Montgomery County zoning: Council wants to change zoning throughout the county to multi-family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Democrats destroying themselves. Fun times.

Are you nuts? This will cause property values to skyrocket.

Are you fruits? This will cause a major flight from MoCo to Northern Virginia.

Good luck with your daily commute to Rockville, then.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand the opposition. I’m sure there will be rules regarding setbacks from the property line and size. I think it would be great to be able to let my elderly parents live there or a kid back from college just starting out.

[Anonymous]

Obviously Reimer is talking changing setbacks since detached ADU's are included in the scheme. Think building a thing the size if a 2 car garage detached or attached . This isn't about converting a walk out basement. The word used is basement.


Also deleted would be the min 800 sq ft and max 1200. That means what? 3 studio apartments of 600 square feet on the same site as a SF?


Deleting minimum distance requirements between ADU's? Park 3 rv /modulars in the back yard and 1 in the front?


People rent garages as apts in LA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously Reimer is talking changing setbacks since detached ADU's are included in the scheme. Think building a thing the size if a 2 car garage detached or attached . This isn't about converting a walk out basement. The word used is basement.


Also deleted would be the min 800 sq ft and max 1200. That means what? 3 studio apartments of 600 square feet on the same site as a SF?


Deleting minimum distance requirements between ADU's? Park 3 rv /modulars in the back yard and 1 in the front?


People rent garages as apts in LA.

People rent out a bed in SF.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/success/podshare-co-living/index.html

[Anonymous]

Why would anybody want to put their elderly parents in a basement or in a little house in the backyard? I think that's just a pretense. Say good bye to tree canopy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously Reimer is talking changing setbacks since detached ADU's are included in the scheme. Think building a thing the size if a 2 car garage detached or attached . This isn't about converting a walk out basement. The word used is basement.


Also deleted would be the min 800 sq ft and max 1200. That means what? 3 studio apartments of 600 square feet on the same site as a SF?


Deleting minimum distance requirements between ADU's? Park 3 rv /modulars in the back yard and 1 in the front?


People rent garages as apts in LA.

People rent out a bed in SF.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/success/podshare-co-living/index.html

What's your point?

[Anonymous]

I’m opposed and agree with you OP. Here’s why I’m opposed:

I’ve spent time renting units to those in DC. DC has some of the most lax tenant rental laws in the country. Recently, DC passed legislation that when a court ordered eviction [writ of restitution] was granted landlords couldn’t have the Marshal’s place the evicted tenants stuff curbside; landlords had to pay movers to move the evicted tenants belongings, Place it in storage & pay the storage fees for up to 30 days and provide keys and access so that the evicted tenant could get their items out of storage. I had a tenant that owed me $15,000 and I had to pay for their things to be in storage. This didn’t include the money spent for legal fees. This is only ONE case of the many cases I’ve experienced in the landlord tenant arena. Although most people are good tenants and I’ve conducted the necessary background checks, there are still bad apples in every bunch. The tenant got away scotch free. Landlords protested this abuse of law to require that landlords pay for movers, storage fees and access for evicted tenants in the District to no avail honestly.

http://www.efairbankslaw.com/blog-non-redeemable/2018/5/2/new-dc-eviction-procedures.html

I’ve meet many people who wanted the multi-family housing for extra income but they don’t realize that they need to have savings in case of need for an attorney. It seems like MoCo often follows the Distict in some of its dealings. Be warned MoCo as your county charters into unknown territory.

I’d warm and watch if I were all the people who are screaming they want the extra multi-family housing units especially if the laws will be modeled after the District’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m opposed and agree with you OP. Here’s why I’m opposed:

I’ve spent time renting units to those in DC. DC has some of the most lax tenant rental laws in the country. Recently, DC passed legislation that when a court ordered eviction [writ of restitution] was granted landlords couldn’t have the Marshal’s place the evicted tenants stuff curbside; landlords had to pay movers to move the evicted tenants belongings, Place it in storage & pay the storage fees for up to 30 days and provide keys and access so that the evicted tenant could get their items out of storage. I had a tenant that owed me $15,000 and I had to pay for their things to be in storage. This didn’t include the money spent for legal fees. This is only ONE case of the many cases I’ve experienced in the landlord tenant arena. Although most people are good tenants and I’ve conducted the necessary background checks, there are still bad apples in every bunch. The tenant got away scotch free. Landlords protested this abuse of law to require that landlords pay for movers, storage fees and access for evicted tenants in the District to no avail honestly.

http://www.efairbankslaw.com/blog-non-redeemable/2018/5/2/new-dc-eviction-procedures.html

I’ve meet many people who wanted the multi-family housing for extra income but they don’t realize that they need to have savings in case of need for an attorney. It seems like MoCo often follows the Distict in some of its dealings. Be warned MoCo as your county charters into unknown territory.

I’d warm and watch if I were all the people who are screaming they want the extra multi-family housing units especially if the laws will be modeled after the District’s.

Absolutely, MoCo Council is following the District on this issue and it appears they want to base the laws on DC's model.

[Anonymous]

We need more affordable housing, and I am prepared to support that in my little corner of Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Lots of cities are considering this. In Minneapolis, they’ve been disappointed by how little impact the zoning change has had. Minneapolis homeowners have built some 140 ADU’s since their zoning change, which accounts for 0.2 percent of single-family lots. And while Montgomery County is obviously denser, the lesson seems like it will hold—not that many people actually want to build extra dwellings on their own lots. I think it’s neat that cities/counties are considering zoning changes to reflect denser, modern life.

https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2019/05/how-much-will-minneapolis-2040-plan-actually-help-with-housing-affordability-in-the-city/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most ADU's will be single people or a newlywed type couple. Most zoning, at least in DC, limits the number of unrelated people who can live on the same property, so you may want to get clarification on this before you freak out.

That is a joke!

If you actually lived in MoCO, you would know that there is a big issue of investors purchasing SFHs and renting them out to 4 different families, and getting paid in cash so there is no record of it. We have these homes on our street. So, where there was once a home with 4 or 5 people in it, there are now 14. And 7 cars parked in the street that were not there before. And 6 kids now attending the local school.

MoCO already has laws saying how many people can live in a SFH, but there is ZERO enforcement of those laws. How can you prove how many people live in a home, when those people are undocumented??

This is going to lead to even worse problems of overcrowding for schools that are already over capacity and greets that are already overwhelmed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anybody want to put their elderly parents in a basement or in a little house in the backyard? I think that's just a pretense. Say good bye to tree canopy.

This

Definitely a pretense. If you’re concerned about your elderly parent, you would move them into your home or put on an addition. The people who want this law to pass are those who want to rent out their homes to as many people as possible. It’s a terrible idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the opposition. I’m sure there will be rules regarding setbacks from the property line and size. I think it would be great to be able to let my elderly parents live there or a kid back from college just starting out.

Lots of people who think that

1. they should have a say over their neighbors' use of their neighbors' property.
2. the best kind of neighborhood is a neighborhood consisting solely of single-family houses in yards
3. the county should protect the best kind of neighborhood (see #2) from contamination by other forms of housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most ADU's will be single people or a newlywed type couple. Most zoning, at least in DC, limits the number of unrelated people who can live on the same property, so you may want to get clarification on this before you freak out.

That is a joke!

If you actually lived in MoCO, you would know that there is a big issue of investors purchasing SFHs and renting them out to 4 different families, and getting paid in cash so there is no record of it. We have these homes on our street. So, where there was once a home with 4 or 5 people in it, there are now 14. And 7 cars parked in the street that were not there before. And 6 kids now attending the local school.

MoCO already has laws saying how many people can live in a SFH, but there is ZERO enforcement of those laws. How can you prove how many people live in a home, when those people are undocumented??

This is going to lead to even worse problems of overcrowding for schools that are already over capacity and greets that are already overwhelmed.

That's because there's a housing shortage. The solution to a housing shortage is: increasing the supply of housing. Which ADUs will do - not much, but some. Certainly more than nothing.

Also, there seems to be a general belief on DCUM that "undocumented" means "no documents of any sort whatsoever." But it doesn't. It means "no documents showing status of authorized presence in the country."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most ADU's will be single people or a newlywed type couple. Most zoning, at least in DC, limits the number of unrelated people who can live on the same property, so you may want to get clarification on this before you freak out.

That is a joke!

If you actually lived in MoCO, you would know that there is a big issue of investors purchasing SFHs and renting them out to 4 different families, and getting paid in cash so there is no record of it. We have these homes on our street. So, where there was once a home with 4 or 5 people in it, there are now 14. And 7 cars parked in the street that were not there before. And 6 kids now attending the local school.

MoCO already has laws saying how many people can live in a SFH, but there is ZERO enforcement of those laws. How can you prove how many people live in a home, when those people are undocumented??

This is going to lead to even worse problems of overcrowding for schools that are already over capacity and greets that are already overwhelmed.

That's because there's a housing shortage. The solution to a housing shortage is: increasing the supply of housing. Which ADUs will do - not much, but some. Certainly more than nothing.

Also, there seems to be a general belief on DCUM that "undocumented" means "no documents of any sort whatsoever." But it doesn't. It means "no documents showing status of authorized presence in the country."

You may see it as a housing shortage, but that's not true. There is plenty of housing available in the form of apartments/condos/townhouses. Drive around the county to see all the empty units. Or, drive around looking at all the condos for sale in certain areas.

Also, maybe it means that the area can't sustain more people than are already here. If there isn't enough housing, people will live elsewhere.